We wrote about the matter at the beginning of February this year. In an email to the editorial office, Mr Norbert, our Reader, wrote:

I would like to draw attention to the negligence and lack of awareness of the seriousness of the situation on the part of MZGM in Bolesławiec. This concerns an apartment on Opitza Street. On 3 February 2009, two women were fatally poisoned in this apartment—probably by carbon monoxide. The water and sewage and electrical systems, the doors and several other things were replaced. A tiled stove was even newly built. […]

Since 4 January, I checked three times how the stove burned. Each time, smoke blew from the ventilation grille in the kitchen. On 29 January, I lit the stove properly with coal and—as this did not particularly surprise me—smoke was still billowing from the grille. I reported it to the fire brigade. They arrived, checked everything and ordered the stove to be extinguished immediately and the chimneys to be inspected. They also noted that, for the time being, the apartment was unfit for habitation.

Mr Norbert’s family had waited four years for an apartment. On 1 February, our Reader received a letter from the fire brigade. The document stated: “During the measurements, the presence of carbon monoxide in an amount of 90 ppm was detected” (the maximum permissible CO concentration is 20 ppm). After the stove was extinguished and the apartment ventilated, the carbon monoxide concentration fell to 6 ppm.

The owner of the apartment is Miejski Zakład Gospodarki Mieszkaniowej, while the building is managed by the Bolesławiec Social Housing Association. At the request of a TBS employee, a chimney sweep dealt with the matter. He determined that the chimney outlet had to be extended by one metre. This was done on 3 February.

On 12 February, Mr Norbert sent a letter to MZGM. He wanted the institution to stop charging rent because the apartment was still vacant. “We haven’t moved in yet. I am already registered there and packed, but I’m afraid to live there,” the man says. “I’m afraid to light the stove and go to sleep.”

MZGM sent him a refusal. “According to them, all the work was carried out in accordance with construction standards, and there were no deficiencies,” he says. “I was advised to burn fuel with the window ajar. Now that it has become warm, this won’t be a problem. But what will happen in winter? I have a small child. Am I supposed to send the child to the bathroom or kitchen whenever I light the stove?”

“When I previously checked how the stove burned, smoke billowed from the ventilation grille every time,” says Mr Norbert. “There is no smoke now. But I’m not sure whether carbon monoxide is getting into the apartment. Am I supposed to call the fire brigade again? They probably have more important things to deal with.”

“We found no technical irregularities in this apartment. This man could have lived there safely,” emphasizes Piotr Woch, deputy director of Miejski Zakład Gospodarki Mieszkaniowej. “The stove is good. The problem was that it was being used improperly. In that situation, the kitchen exhaust ventilation duct was directly adjacent to the flue connected to the stove. The ventilation worked properly at times and at other times it did not.”

The fault was repaired, and MZGM installed an additional air inlet. “TBS informed us that the chimney flues are functioning properly. The thing is, this is a small apartment, so unfortunately the window must be left ajar while the stove is burning,” explains the deputy head of the institution.

(information ii)